Method and Apparatus for Automatically Setting Alarms and Notifications

ABSTRACT

A processor-based personal electronic device (such as a smartphone) is programmed to automatically respond to data sent by various sensors from which the user&#39;s activity may be inferred. One or more alarms on the device may be temporarily disabled when sensor data indicates that the user is asleep. One or more of the sensors may be worn by the user and remote from the device. A wireless communication link may be used by the device to obtain remote sensor data. Data from on-board sensors in the device—such as motion sensors, location sensors, ambient light sensors, and the like—may also be used to deduce the user&#39;s current activity. User data (such as calendar entries) may also be used to determine likely user activity and set alarms accordingly. Biometric data from a second, nearby person may also be used to automatically select certain alarm modes on a first person&#39;s device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to personal electronic devices. More particularly, it relates to the alarm and notification functions of smartphones.

A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system and having advanced computing capability and connectivity. The first smartphones combined the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a mobile phone. Later models added the functionality of portable media players, compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many current smartphones also include high-resolution touchscreens for input and web browsers that display standard web pages as well as mobile-optimized sites. High-speed data access may be provided by Wi-Fi and/or Mobile Broadband.

Wi-Fi is a widely-used technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any “wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards”. However, since most modern WLANs are based on these standards, the term “Wi-Fi” is used in general English as a synonym for “WLAN”.

A device that can use Wi-Fi (such as a personal computer, video-game console, smartphone, tablet, or digital audio player) can connect to a network resource such as the Internet via a wireless network access point. Such an access point (or “hotspot”) typically has a range of about 65 feet (20 meters) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Hotspot coverage can comprise an area as small as a single room with walls that block radio waves or as large as many square miles—this may be achieved by using multiple overlapping access points.

Mobile broadband is the term used for wireless Internet access through a portable modem, mobile phone, USB wireless modem, or other mobile devices. A smartphone is basically a cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access. In addition to digital voice service, current smartphones provide text messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, and video playback and calling. In addition to their built-in functions, smartphones can run myriad free and paid applications, turning the cellphone into a mobile personal computer.

In addition to radio transmitters and receivers for interacting with cellular telecommunications systems, many smartphones have additional sensors that provide input to their various systems. For example, Apple Inc.'s iPhone® 5 smartphone includes at three-axis gyro, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.

The iPhone display may respond to a number of sensors. A proximity sensor deactivates the display and touchscreen when the device is brought near the face during a call. This is done to save battery power and to prevent inadvertent inputs from contact with the user's face and ears. An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly, allowing the user to easily switch between portrait and landscape mode. Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support both upright and left or right widescreen orientations.

Certain smartphones have a “do not disturb” mode. When the “do not disturb” mode is activated (e.g., via a Settings menu), the phone suppresses most forms of communication—phone calls, text messages, alarms, social media notifications, and the like. When this mode is enabled, the phone will not light up or vibrate at all, so the user can get through a meeting or go to bed without being disturbed by the outside world. However, all of those notifications may get captured and appear in a “Notification Center” when the phone's display is turned on by the user.

The user may configure the “Do not disturb” feature to function on a predefined schedule, or may simply turn it on and off as needed. The user may also specify certain contacts—sometime designated as “VIPs”—who are allowed to get through to the user even if the phone is in “do not disturb” mode.

In certain implementations, when a call comes in, the user can choose to answer or ignore it, as usual, or may immediately reply with a text message. The user may also set the smartphone to remind him or her about the call later—either at a specific time, or when leaving the current location (as determined from the phone's location sensors).

Various options may allow the Do Not Disturb settings on a smartphone to be further customized. For example, an option for “Repeated Calls” may allow activation of a mode wherein whenever someone calls back a second time from the same number within a certain time interval, the second call will not be silenced.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A processor-based personal electronic device (such as a smartphone) is programmed to automatically respond to data sent by various sensors from which the user's activity may be inferred. For example, one or more alarms on the device may be temporarily disabled when sensor data indicates that the user is asleep. One or more of the sensors may be worn by the user and remote from the device. A wireless communication link may be used by the device to obtain remote sensor data. In certain embodiments, data from on-board sensors in the device—such as motion sensors, location sensors, ambient light sensors, and the like—may also be used to deduce the user's current activity. In yet other embodiments, user data (such as calendar entries) may also be used to determine likely user activity and set alarms accordingly.

In one particular representative embodiment, the invention comprises a process for determining whether the user has fallen asleep and a wake-up alarm is automatically set to activate after a pre-defined sleep duration. The process may further include automatically disabling other alarms and/or notifications during the sleep period.

In another particular preferred embodiment, the process may receive data from another device to determine whether a second person is sleeping nearby—e.g., a bedmate. If so, the process may automatically disable any audible alarms on a first person's device and activate a remote, tactile alarm worn by the first person—e.g., a bracelet containing a built-in vibrator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processor-based device.

FIG. 2 is flowchart of a process according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a simplified functional block diagram of illustrative electronic device 100 is shown according to one embodiment. Electronic device 100 could, for example, be a smartphone, personal media device, portable camera, or a tablet, notebook or desktop computer system. As shown, electronic device 100 may include processor 105, display 110, user interface 115, graphics hardware 120, device sensors 125 (e.g., proximity sensor/ambient light sensor, accelerometer and/or gyroscope), microphone 130, audio codec(s) 135, speaker(s) 140, communications circuitry 145, image capture circuit or unit 150, video codec(s) 155, memory 160, storage 165, and communications bus 170.

Processor 105 may execute instructions necessary to carry out or control the operation of many functions performed by device 100 (e.g., such as the processing of data obtained from device sensors 125). Processor 105 may, for instance, drive display 110 and receive user input from user interface 115. User interface 115 can take a variety of forms, such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, keyboard, display screen and/or a touch screen. Processor 105 may be a system-on-chip such as those found in mobile devices and include one or more dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs). Processor 105 may be based on reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) or complex instruction-set computer (CISC) architectures or any other suitable architecture and may include one or more processing cores. Graphics hardware 120 may be special purpose computational hardware for processing graphics and/or assisting processor 105 perform computational tasks. In one embodiment, graphics hardware 120 may include one or more programmable graphics processing units (GPUs).

Image capture circuitry 150 may capture still and video images that may be processed to generate images. Output from image capture circuitry 150 may be processed, at least in part, by video codec(s) 155 and/or processor 105 and/or graphics hardware 120, and/or a dedicated image processing unit incorporated within circuitry 150. Images so captured may be stored in memory 160 and/or storage 165. Memory Memory (EPROM), and Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM). Memory 160 and storage 165 may be used to retain computer program instructions or code organized into one or more modules and written in any desired computer programming language. When executed by, for example, processor 105 such computer program code may implement one or more of the methods described herein.160 may include one or more different types of media used by processor 105, graphics hardware 120, and image capture circuitry 150 to perform device functions. For example, memory 160 may include memory cache, read-only memory (ROM), and/or random access memory (RAM). Storage 165 may store media (e.g., audio, image and video files), computer program instructions or software, preference information, device profile information, and any other suitable data. Storage 165 may include one more non-transitory storage mediums including, for example, magnetic disks (fixed, floppy, and removable) and tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs and digital video disks (DVDs), and semiconductor memory devices such as Electrically Programmable Read-Only

An electronic device such as device 100 may receive inputs from on-board device sensors 125 which sensors may be of the types described, above—i.e., proximity sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, ambient light sensors and location sensors. In addition, it may receive signals and/or data from remote sensors via communication circuitry 145. Such remote sensors may be worn by the user of the device—e.g., wrist motion sensors, pulse rate sensors, breathing rate sensors, and the like. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that processor 105 of system 100 may be programmed to receive input data from the sensors and deduce from that data the current activity of the user. The activity of the user may be used to automatically select one or more states (or “settings”) of the device.

By way of example, consider a case wherein device 100 is a smartphone. For an extended period of time beginning at about 11:00 p.m. on a weekday (the day and time being available to processor 105 from the clock and calendar features of the phone and/or a network to which the phone is connected), the built-in accelerometers and gyroscopes report no movement of the device and the ambient light sensor reports dim or dark conditions. Remote sensors worn by the user report infrequent arm movement and depressed pulse and breathing rates. No keyboard or touchscreen inputs are made. No calls or messages are sent. The phone may sense that it is connected to a charger. From all this information, a process running on processor 105 may reasonably infer that the user is asleep. The process may assign a probability to this inference based on certain preselected parameters of the data. The processor may use the calculated probability in deciding what, if any, actions to take based on the information. For example, if the process determines with a certain, relatively high degree of probability that the user is asleep, the process may cause the smartphone to enter a Do Not Disturb state wherein alarms and notifications are suppressed. If the user has set a wake-up alarm, the process may automatically cause the device to exit the Do Not Disturb state in time for the alarm to sound.

The probability calculation may employ pattern recognition techniques. For example, if a certain determined user activity (e.g., sleeping) occurs repeatedly at about the same time in about the same place every day for about the same length of time, a higher probability (degree of confidence) may be assigned to that determination.

Various embodiments may best be understood by reference to the following examples and exemplary embodiment(s) illustrated in the drawing figures.

EXAMPLE 1

The alarm clocks of the prior art (including those incorporated into smartphones) are typically manual input devices and are invasive in nature. An alarm clock (or alarm function) according to one embodiment may be set automatically based on the user's calendar events and/or daily routine which, as described above, may be determined from remote sensors worn by the user and/or on-board sensors in the phone.

In this example, the user of a smartphone stayed up very late on Friday night (until 4:00 a.m.) as determined from data received from a biometric bracelet worn by the user. It's now Saturday, and there are no entries for the day on the user's calendar. The user has a Reminder set for 10:00 a.m. to “call parents.” The default (static) daily wake-up alarm is set for 9:00 a.m. and the default (static) daily setting for disabling the Do Not Disturb feature is also set for 9:00 a.m.

Based on the user's lack of sufficient sleep and no scheduled early appointments, the system may automatically re-set the wake-up alarm to a first later time (e.g., 9:45 a.m.) and extend the Do Not Disturb state to second later time (e.g., 10:00 a.m.) In this way, the user will be awakened in time for his scheduled call and given 15 minutes without interruption from the phone to arise, check messages, reminders, and the like.

EXAMPLE 2

In this example, the user of a smartphone has set a daily (static) wake-up alarm at 9:00 a.m. and the default (static) daily setting for disabling the Do Not Disturb feature is also set for 9:00 a.m. However, there is a calendar entry for a meeting at 8:00 a.m. Sensor inputs indicate normal activity of the user.

Under these conditions, the process may automatically reset the alarm to a first earlier time (e.g., 7:00 a.m.) and reset the Do Not Disturb state to end at a second earlier time (e.g., 8:00 a.m.)

In this way, the system automatically resolves the conflict between the daily alarm setting and the scheduled meeting by awakening the user well in advance of the start time of the meeting.

EXAMPLE 3

As discussed above, remote sensors worn by the user in a bracelet, chest strap, undergarment, etc. may be used by the system (smartphone) to determine when the user falls asleep and/or wakes up. This determination may be supplemented (or entirely made) by the performance of certain pre-defined tasks performed by the user on the device—e.g., turning on or off the Do Not Disturb feature. The determination may also be supplemented by activity monitoring on the device itself—e.g., being connected to or disconnected from a charger, docking station, or the like or being stationary in a recurring location (e.g., bedside) for an extended period of time.

In this example, suppose that the user is wearing a heart rate monitor in data communication with the smartphone via a BLUETOOTH® connection (Bluetooth Sig, Inc., Kirkland, Wash. 98033). Based on changes in the user's heart rate, the system determines that the user fell asleep at 10:55 p.m. The user's daily (static) settings will activate the Do Not Disturb feature at 11:30 p.m. However, based on the “fact” that the user has apparently fallen asleep somewhat ahead of schedule, the system may automatically activate the Do Not Disturb feature when the user falls asleep (10:55 p.m.).

EXAMPLE 4

In a related example, the system may automatically perform certain functions when it detects that a user has awakened.

In a representative case, suppose that the user is wearing a heart rate monitor in data communication with a smartphone via a Bluetooth connection. Based on changes in the user's heart rate, the system determines that the user is awake at 8:00 a.m. The user's daily (static) settings deactivate the Do Not Disturb feature at 9:00 a.m. and the alarm is set for 9:00 a.m. Since the user is “up early,” the system may immediately (at 8:00 a.m.) automatically deactivate the Do Not Disturb feature and deactivate the alarm for that day—since it is unnecessary inasmuch as the user is awake at 8:00 a.m. whereas the alarm is set for 9:00 a.m.

EXAMPLE 5

In yet another embodiment of the invention, sensors (built-in or remote) may be used to determine when a user falls asleep and settings on the device (smartphone) may automatically be made by the system in response to the user's condition.

In a representative case, assume the user is wearing biometric and/or movement sensors that are in data communication with a smartphone via a Bluetooth connection. The user wishes to take a 30-minute “power nap” in the afternoon. The user inputs the desired nap duration (30 minutes) but no specific beginning or ending time.

Based on sensor readings, the system determines that the user fell asleep at 3:15 p.m. In response, the system may automatically set the Do Not Disturb feature to be active from 3:15 p.m. until 3:45 p.m. and automatically set the alarm to sound at 3:45 p.m.

EXAMPLE 6

Referring now to FIG. 2, a process according to yet another embodiment is diagramed wherein a smartphone (or similar processor-based device) wakes a user by a method selected based upon whether another person is nearby and (possibly) sleeping.

For purposes of this example, assume that a smartphone user (a “first person”) is wearing sensors responsive to his or her biometrics (motions and/or pulse rate, breathing rate, etc.) These sensors are in data communication with the smartphone (e.g., via a WLAN, personal area network, or the like). The user is also wearing an alert device—for example, a bracelet equipped with a vibrator. The alert device may be incorporated in a single device also containing the biometric sensors. Another person (“second person”) is in the vicinity of the user and is also a smartphone user wearing one or more biometric sensors. The sensors worn by the second person are in data communication with the first person's smartphone. This data communication may be direct or via the second person's smartphone.

The process begins at 200 in FIG. 2. At decision diamond 202 the current time is compared to the alarm set time. If the alarm set time has not yet been reached, the process repeats (N branch at 202). If the current time is the alarm set time (Y branch at 202), the process continues to block 204 at which point the system may obtain data from remote sensors worn by the user and/or on-board sensors in the smartphone. At decision diamond 206, the sensor data (possibly in combination with other information such as time-of-day and/or user inputs) is used to determine whether the user is asleep. If the user is not sleeping (N branch at 206), the system may automatically cancel the alarm (at block 208) inasmuch as it is no longer required, and the process terminates at 210.

If, on the other hand, it is determined (with some pre-set probability threshold) that the user is sleeping (Y branch at 206), a determination is made (at 212) whether a second person in near proximity to the user is asleep. Proximity may be determined, for example, by the user's phone receiving radio signals from sensors worn by the second person or by location data sent by the second user's smartphone. If there is a nearby sleeper (Y branch at 212) the process may disable the audio alarm (speaker) on the user's device (smartphone) at block 214 and proceed to awaken the user with only the vibrator worn by the user (at 216). An optional “snooze” function may be implemented at 218 wherein the user may cause the alarm to deactivate but repeat after a pre-selected time delay (block 222). As shown in FIG. 2, after the expiration of the time delay, the system may make another (updated) determination (at 212) of whether there is a nearby sleeper, and the process repeated. In certain embodiments, the “snooze” function may be repeated only a limited number of times.

If, however, it is determined that there is no nearby sleeper (N branch at 212), the process may continue to block 224 where the audio alarm sounds and to block 226 where the vibrator worn by the user is activated. As described above, an optional “snooze” function may be implemented at 228 to insert at time delay (at 232) before repeating the alarms (at 224 and 226).

In this way, the system may automatically select the most appropriate way to awaken the user. Disturbing a sleeping bedmate with the audio alarm on a user's smartphone may be avoided by using only a vibrating device worn by the user to awaken him or her. However, when such measures are not needed, the system may automatically revert to conventional alarms, all without the need for user input.

In yet other embodiments, a smartphone (including the second person's smartphone) may advertise the sleep/awake status of its user for receipt by nearby compatible devices. The smartphone may use one or more of the methods described hereinabove to make the status determination. In certain embodiments, the probability associated with the determined status may also be transmitted.

EXAMPLE 7

If a calendar-equipped device such as a smartphone has both audible and tactile notifications and/or alarms, another embodiment may be used to automatically disable the audible alarm(s) (or notification) and enable the tactile alarm(s) (or notification) during a scheduled meeting.

In an illustrative example, the system may check the user's calendar on a particular day and determine that a meeting is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. In response, the system may automatically disable any audible alarms (or notifications) and enable a tactile alarm (e.g., a vibrator) for that time interval. At the end of the period, the system may automatically restore the alarm modes that were in effect immediately before the start of the period. In certain embodiments, the system may notify the user of the change and offer an option of overriding the automatic disabling of audible alarms and/or notifications.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, they are not intended to limit what this patent covers. One skilled in the art will understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as literally and equivalently covered by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory program storage device comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors to: receive data from at least one sensor responsive to a user's activity; determine a likely activity of the user based at least in part on the sensor data and prior-acquired activity data; and, change the operational behavior of an alarm function of the device based at least in part on the determined activity of the user.
 2. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor is selected from the group consisting of motion sensors, pulse rate sensors, breathing rate sensors, orientation sensors, ambient light sensors, proximity sensors and location sensors.
 3. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the motion sensor comprises an apparatus selected from the group consisting of accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes, photocells, charge coupled devices, global navigation satellite system receivers, Wi-Fi transceivers, cellular telephone transceivers and Assisted GPS receivers.
 4. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor is a remote sensor worn by the user.
 5. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the activity is sleeping.
 6. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the operational behavior is setting an alarm activation time.
 7. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the operational behavior is deactivating a previously set alarm.
 8. A program storage device as recited in claim 1 wherein the operational behavior is an alarm type.
 9. A program storage device as recited in claim 8 where in the alarm type is selected from the group consisting of tactile alarms, audible alarms, visible alarms and remote tactile alarms.
 10. A processor-based system comprising: a processor; at least one sensor responsive to the activity of a user and in data communication with the processor; and, a memory storing instructions for causing the processor to receive data from at least one sensor responsive to a user's activity; determine a likely activity of the user based at least in part on the sensor data and prior-acquired activity data; and, change the operational behavior of an alarm function of the device based at least in part on the determined activity of the user.
 11. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the at least one sensor is selected from the group consisting of motion sensors, pulse rate sensors, breathing rate sensors, orientation sensors, ambient light sensors, proximity sensors and location sensors.
 12. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the motion sensor comprises an apparatus selected from the group consisting of accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes, photocells, charge coupled devices, global navigation satellite system receivers, Wi-Fi transceivers, cellular telephone transceivers and Assisted GPS receivers.
 13. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the at least one sensor is a remote sensor worn by the user.
 14. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the activity is sleeping.
 15. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the operational behavior is setting an alarm activation time.
 16. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the operational behavior is deactivating a previously set alarm.
 17. A processor based system as recited in claim 10 wherein the operational behavior is an alarm type.
 18. A processor based system as recited in claim 17 where in the alarm type is selected from the group consisting of tactile alarms, audible alarms, visible alarms and remote tactile alarms.
 19. A non-transitory program storage device comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors to: receive data from at least one sensor responsive to a user's activity; determine whether the user is asleep based at least in part on sensor data; and, set an alarm activation time based at least in part on the duration of the user's sleep.
 20. A processor-based system comprising: a processor; at least one sensor responsive to the activity of a user and in data communication with the processor; and, a memory storing instructions for causing the processor to receive data from at least one sensor responsive to a user's activity; determine whether the user is asleep based at least in part on sensor data; and, set an alarm activation time based at least in part on the duration of the user's sleep.
 21. A non-transitory program storage device comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors in a first processor based device to: receive data from at least one sensor responsive to the activity of a user of a second processor-based device; determine whether the user of the second processor-based device is asleep based at least in part on sensor data; and, select an alarm type on the first processor-based device based at least in part on whether the user of the second processor-based device is asleep.
 22. A first processor-based system comprising: a processor; at least one sensor responsive to the activity of a user and in data communication with the processor; and, a memory storing instructions for causing the processor to receive data from at least one sensor responsive to the activity of a user of a second processor-based device; determine whether the user of the second processor-based device is asleep based at least in part on sensor data; and, select an alarm type on the first processor-based device based at least in part on whether the user of the second processor-based device is asleep. 